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Packet switching

Packet switching - A communication system wherein the information is transmitted in packets of a set size. These packets have address headers and find their way to their destination by the most efficient route through the network. Compared to circuit switching where a connection is occupied until the traffic exchange is completed, packet switching offers considerable efficiencies as connections can be used by a number of users simultaneously

PACS

PACS - Personal Access Communication System; a digital cordless technology developed initially by Bell Labs in the US, PACS was designed to compete with DECT

PAMR

PAMR - Public Access Mobile Radio; Commercial service using trunking techniques in which multiple groups of users can set up their own closed systems within a shared public network

PAP

PAP - Public Access Profile; a DECT term

PCH

PCH - Paging Channel; downlink only, the MS is informed of incoming calls by the BTS via the PCH

PCN

PCN - Personal Communications Network; a designation initially used in the UK to refer to networks operating in the 1800MHz band (see also DCS1800). No longer in use

PCS 1900

PCS 1900 - Personal Communications Systems 1900MHz; the terminology used in the US to describe the new digital networks being deployed in the 1900MHz band; rarely used today

PCU

PCU - Packet Control Unit; an element in a GPRS/UMTS network

PDA

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant

PDC

PDC - Personal Digital Communications; a digital cellular technology developed and deployed uniquely in Japan. A TDMA technology, PDC is incompatible with any other digital cellular standard

PEDC

PEDC - Pan European Digital Communications; A designation occasionally used in the early 1990’s to describe GSM. No longer in use

Penetration

Penetration - The percentage of the total population which owns a mobile phone

Phone book

Phone book - A list of personal names and numbers stored in a mobile phone’s internal memory or in the SIM card. These numbers can be called by accessing the appropriate memory and making a single key stroke

PHS / PHP

PHS / PHP - Personal HandyPhone System/Phone; a digital cordless technology developed in Japan which achieved great success. Deployed by NTT DoCoMo and other Japanese operators PHS offered two-way communications, data services and Internet access and eventually won some 28 million customers. Now in decline as cellular’s wide area capabilities offer better service

PIN

PIN - Personal Identifier Number

PKI

PKI - Public Key Infrastructure

PLMN

PLMN - Public Land Mobile Network; any cellular operator’s network

PMR

PMR - Private Mobile Radiocommunications; two-way radio technology widely used for despatch and delivery services, taxi companies and the like. See TETRA

POCSAG

Polyphonic Ringtones

Polyphonic Ringtones - Polyphonic ringtones can create multiple tones simultaneously. This produces a more natural and realistic sound for melodies.

PoP

PoP - Points of Presence; a method of measuring the value of a cellular licence; the approximate number of potential customers within a geographical area

POTS

POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service

Predictive Text Input

Predictive Text Input - A technology which allows you to enter text by pressing only one key per letter. The phone will automatically compare all of the possible letter combinations against a built-in dictionary of words. The current Predictive Text Input implementations are T9, iTAP and eZiText.

PROM

PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory

PSDN

PSDN - Public Switched Data Network

PSK

PSK - Phase Shift Keying

PSPDN

PSPDN - Public Switched Packet Data Network

PSRCP

PSRCP - Public Safety Radio Communications Project; an initiative by the UK Government to standardise all emergency services communications on to a single digital technology (see TETRA)

PSTN

PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network

PSU

PSU - Power Supply Unit

PTO

PTO - Public Telecommunication Operator

PTT

PTT - Posts, Telephone and Telegraph Administration

PWT

PWT - Personal Wireless Telecommunications; a variant of DECT developed for use in the USA